US ambassador to Japan urges Tokyo to help quickly replenish US missile inventory

He spoke as Japan and the US held their first talks to accelerate military industrial cooperation, after an April agreement between the nations’ leaders

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US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel speaks to reporters in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 10:44pm, 10 Jun 2024

The United States needs Japan’s help to quickly replenish missile inventory as conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine continue and Washington seeks to keep its deterrence credible in the Indo-Pacific, the US ambassador to Japan said on Monday.

“It is clear that the United States military industrial base cannot meet all the strategic challenges that we have and obligations we have,” Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said.

He spoke as Japan and the US held their first talks to accelerate military industrial cooperation, two months after an April agreement between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden.

“The goal here is not more meetings. The goal is production,” Emanuel said, adding: “Those who want to do harm to the United States are not going to wait for our industrial capacity to build itself up.”

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel greets crew of the US navy aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan before its voyage at the US navy’s Yokosuka base, south of Tokyo. Photo: AP

The ambassador said China’s shipbuilding capacity will surpass the US and that repairs in Japan of US navy ships and Air Force aircraft deployed in the region can free up US industrial capacity to focus on building new ships.